Ridge: Look, my whole
world is -- is kind of out of whack here. That's why I need this time off. Get
my house in order. All this stuff with Thomas and Amber, and Massimo's condition
-- I just need to focus on that.

Eric: You can't take care
of all that and stay here? You've a lot of responsibilities here, Ridge. I
depend on you.

Ridge: Yeah, well, I'm
sure you can get along without me for a while.

[ Eric sighs ]

Eric: Look, I know your
intention was to help --

Ridge: And I know that you
have a different idea of what should happen around here -- I understand that.

Eric: Do you?

Ridge: I don't like all
the pressure that was put on my wife.

Eric: You put a lot of
pressure on Brooke, too, you know. But she made her own decision.

Ridge: Well, then she'll
have to suffer the consequences, won't she?

Eric: Consequences? You're
not gonna punish her for this, are you?

Ridge: Can you blame me
for feeling a little resentful?

Eric: Don't let it affect
your marriage.

Ridge: Yeah. You let me
worry about that.

Eric: All right. Just
don't do anything you'll regret.

Ridge: I'll handle it any
way I see fit.

[ Cell phone rings ]
Hello.

Dr. Ying: Ridge, this is
Dr. Ying. I'm sorry to bother you, but your father --

Ridge: What about him?

Dr. Ying: He's asking for
you.

Ridge: Me?

Dr. Ying: As far as I can
tell, he's very agitated and not making much sense.

Deacon: Is he right? Are
you still in there ticking? Watching? Just waiting to exact your revenge on me,
Massimo? Is that it? Lights are on, but nobody's home, huh? But I am. I'm home
with your wife, living your life.

Deacon: You know, Jackie,
I think coming back here was a huge mistake.

Jackie: I barely have any
clothes at your house. I mean, I can't keep going to work dressed in the same
thing. What will the customers think?

Deacon: Probably think
that you're an incredibly sexy woman who definitely knows how to have a good
time, and that, I don't know, I just can't seem to keep my hands off you --

Jackie: Deacon, Deacon --

Deacon: Wait, wait, do you
hear that? [ Makes sucking sound ] You hear that sound? That's this mausoleum,
sucking the life out of you.

Jackie: It wasn't always
like that, not in the beginning. There was a lot of joy and hope in this house.

Deacon: Jackie, you can't
waist your time thinking about what could have been. The seconds, they're
ticking down in our life, and you got no idea what's around the corner. So, you
know what? You got to grab it and you got to run with it. You know? You got to
just grab it like that and run.

Jackie: Run where?

Deacon: Back to my place.
No, no, no, make that our place. I don't care if you have to get a bigger
suitcase. I want you to move in with me for good.

Jackie: I'm sorry, Deacon.
As lovely an offer as that is, I can't move in with you. Not on any kind of
permanent basis.

Deacon: You mean, like
ever?

Jackie: Don't you
understand it takes all the energy that I've got to plan for tomorrow, far less,
the rest of my life?

Deacon: Then why don't you
let me do the planning for both of us? I mean, Jackie, you've been locked up in
this place like a prisoner. You finally have a chance to open the cell door to
walk out for good, and for some reason, you insist on staying put.

Jackie: Don't you
understand? If I leave --

Deacon: If you leave what?
Please tell me what is it that you're afraid of.

Brooke: Well, he does
believe that Eric made a critical misjudgment and that ousting him out of the
company was in the best interest of everybody.

Nick: But you don't?

Brooke: All I could see
was divided loyalties. Some employees standing behind Ridge, some backing Eric.
It would be civil war. And what it would do to this family -- I couldn't let
that happen.

Nick: So, you betrayed
your husband.

Brooke: Is that what you
think?

Nick: No. But that's what
he thinks, isn't it?

Brooke: Every marriage has
it's hard times, and I guess that's just a little bump in the road along the way
for us.

Nick: Absolutely.

Brooke: After R.J. Was
born, and Ridge was holding him, we still it was your child. He looked at me and
he said, "after this, there's nothing that could shake our commitment." I
trusted that then, and I trust it now. Ridge and I will survive this.

Deacon: Honey, are you
afraid to be happy? Is that why you can't close the door on this place?

Jackie: It's about more
than just my happiness, deacon. I have a son who's welfare comes first. And this
is his home, too.

Deacon: Jackie, I
understand that, growing up, all you wanted to do is give Nick a place where you
felt like he belonged. You know, meals are on the dinner table with mom and dad,
football out on the lawn, the whole nine yards. I get it.

Jackie: Well, then you
understand that if I close the door here, once and for all, I'll have failed
him.

Deacon: But you haven't.
You gave it to him for a while and that's a hell of a lot more than most people
get. So, you thank the powers that be, and you move on.

Jackie: A huge shift like,
I just can't do that, not just overnight.

Deacon: About that, I
mean, it could happen overnight if you spend the night with the right person.

Jackie: Oh, you don't give
up, do you?

Deacon: No, no, honey, I
don't. Not when I want something as badly as I want you.

Nick: Because you voted
with your conscience. Would've been a lot easier to follow your husband.

Brooke: I couldn't do that
and live with myself. Just like ridge couldn't live with the repercussions of
that decision of replacing Eric. Family means more to him than pride and ego.
Look what he did for Massimo. The way he forgave the bad blood between them, and
he was there for his father when he needed him.

Deacon: Hey, I -- I've
been where you are. I know we never really talked about this, but -- when I quit
drinking, it was probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. And I did
it because it was killing me, little by little. I don't want to see that happen
to you. I just think you're too beautiful to die young.

Jackie: No fair, making
those kind of comments.

Deacon: Honey, I never
said I was gonna play fair. Jackie, there's too much at stake, right now. Sell
it, board it up, give it to charity, but just say good-bye to it. Just -- just
say good-bye to all of it.